When April sales data came out, a lot of noise was made of the shift towards gasoline-sipping small cars. Shrill voices feted sales of electric cars, which look like a rounding error, as a win in the war on terror. As so often, the truth is different. The new cars that hit the road in April get, on average, slightly less mileage (23.3 mpg) than those sold in March (23.4 mpg). If the war on terror would honestly be waged on dealer lots, then the true heroes would be foreign mercenaries, with Americans occupying rear echelon slots.

“In April, we saw a slight increase in sales of trucks and SUVs, which factored into the decrease in the actual fuel economy of cars sold” said Jesse Toprak, Vice President of Market Intelligence at TrueCar.com. Each month, the Santa Monica, CA, company compiles the actual fuel economy numbers of then light vehicles sold in that month on a sales-weighted basis. TrueCar calls this number TrueMPG.

Average MPG

Manufacturer

Apr ’12

Apr ’11

YoY

Hyundai

27.6

26.0

1.6

Volkswagen

26.8

25.2

1.6

Toyota

25.5

23.7

1.8

Honda

25.2

24.2

1.0

Nissan

23.4

22.6

0.8

Industry

23.3

22.2

1.1

Ford

22.1

21.1

1.0

GM

21.5

21.2

0.3

Chrysler

20.0

18.4

1.6

Compared to April 2011 (22.2 mpg), the average of all cars sold is up by more than a gallon, reflecting changes in technology and buying patterns. The leaders of the list improved more than the laggards. Again, as measured by what is actually bought and sold, America’s most fuel efficient cars are not American. The Detroit 3 rank below industry average. Chrysler has the worst showing. GM has the most measly increase in MPG. Ford is reaping the results of its fuel economy focus.

Average Car MPG

Manufacturer

Apr ’12

Apr ’11

YoY

Toyota

31.0

28.6

2.4

Hyundai

29.3

27.0

2.3

Honda

27.9

27.4

0.5

Volkswagen

27.6

26.7

0.9

Industry

27.0

25.5

1.5

Nissan

26.5

24.9

1.6

Ford

26.3

25.4

0.9

GM

25.1

24.4

0.7

Chrysler

22.8

21.6

1.2

TrueCar breaks out is TrueMPG in a multitude of ways. Looking at the data by car and by truck does not change the overall picture much. In the car category, Toyota moves to the top.

An even thinner slicing of the data even further, finally brings respect to a Detroit maker. Ford is above average in the Small Car discipline, which is led by Toyota.

Average Midsize Car MPG

Manufacturer

Apr ’12

Apr ’11

YoY

Volkswagen

29.3

24.6

4.7

Toyota

28.7

24.4

4.3

Hyundai

27.7

26.3

1.4

Ford

26.8

25.5

1.3

Industry

26.4

25.1

1.3

Honda

26.0

25.9

0.1

GM

25.8

25.5

0.3

Nissan

25.1

23.5

1.6

Suzuki

25.1

24.9

0.2

Mazda

24.7

23.8

0.9

Mitsubishi

24.3

24.3

0.0

Subaru

24.3

24.1

0.2

Chrysler

24.0

23.9

0.1

The midsize car category is in the hands of Germans, Japanese, and Koreans, with Ford in place four.

Average Large Truck MPG

Manufacturer

Apr ’12

Apr ’11

YoY

Ford

17.4

16.2

1.2

Honda

17.2

16.9

0.3

GM

17.1

17.7

-0.6

Industry

16.8

16.4

0.4

Chrysler

15.8

16.2

-0.4

Toyota

15.4

15.6

-0.2

Nissan

14.3

14.2

0.1

At last, two Detroit makers above average, in the discipline that usually delivers abysmal mileage: Ford sells the most large trucks with the best mileage. GM, which had led this discipline a year ago, loses 0.6 miles and falls back to place three.

TrueCars measures its TrueMPG using Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ratings based on monthly automotive sales-weighted data. Calculations start at the trim level, taking into account EPA fuel economy data including engine size and drivetrain that affect a vehicle’s MPG ratings; the sales share from each trim level is then calculated to create an average for each model. Brand level data is calculated by the sales share of each model and the manufacturer data is then based on the share of each brand.

Federal regulations define a light-duty truck to be any motor vehicle having a gross vehicle weight rating (curb weight plus payload) of no more than 8,500 pounds (3,855.5 kg) which is “(1) Designed primarily for purposes of transportation of property or is a derivation of such a vehicle, or (2) Designed primarily for transportation of persons and has a capacity of more than 12 persons, or (3) Available with special features enabling off-street or off-highway operation and use.”

The Ridgeline has a curb weight of 4500lbs and a Gross Weight of 6050.

I guess it would count when you consider an F150 has a 4685 curb weight and a gross of 6600.

Even the Dodge Magnum was classified as a light truck despite being virtually the same car as the 300/Charger.

Even with its archaic 4 speeds and not going the direct injection rout, Toyota still beats H/K with all their CDI and 6 speed trannies. “Those legs were made for pumping, and that’s just what they’ll do”

Gas prices are based on SUPPLY/DEMAND just like all other products right?

So does it stand to reason that if more cars are brought to market that get higher fuel efficiency, it will cause gas prices to INCREASE since now, more people can afford to drive cars which means more fuel will be needed?

If gas prices shot to $10/ gallon right now, only people who could afford it would be able to drive regularly. That means LESS TRAFFIC = More people walking = more weight loss = smaller americans = less waste of energy.

I remember back in 2001 when I bought my first SUV (Ford Expedition 2002), The only reason I didn’t get the explorer was because back then, I shopped at Costco/BJ’s every single week and needed a truck big enough to haul all that “stuff”. Now with the economic retraction, I notice fewer people need bigger cars/SUV’s because they are spending LESS MONEY (since credit has dried up BTW) and must actually live within their means.

What? If supply goes up because of a lack of demand, then prices, in theory, should go down. If more fuel efficient cars are sold, the price of gas should go down because more fuel would be available in supply. Just because people get better gas mileage, it doesn’t mean they are going to necessarily drive more miles.
If prices shot to $10/gallon right now, everyone would still have to drive to work,the store,etc. so, people will have to pay for gas but, do without other things such as food, clothing or extra amenities.At least, that is the way it has happened in the 61 years of my life.

Fuel efficient cars allow MORE PEOPLE to be able to afford to drive. Many people can afford to buy a car, but, can’t afford the maintenance. A Car is a long term financial investment – second only to purchasing a house – for the average American.

Therefore, the number of people able to drive INCREASES.

Increased drivers = increased fuel costs (due to more fuel being used than produced). This also equals increased car accidents (because of the increased number of people driving at any given time).

If fuel prices go up (when they go up), people drive less, make fewer recreational trips, travel less (since fuel prices adversely effect airfare and shipfare) and they also SHOP LESS which means retailers DON’T need to order as much material via trucks (which also happen to get very poor gas mileage – and drive up diesel fuel costs).

This is what is meant when they say fuel prices cause ripples through the entire economy. Low fuel costs cannot exist in a very large population simply because more people require MORE ENERGY. Even in the days of horse driven carriages – you had to actually FEED the horses. More work for the horse equals more feed to be purchased.

The true problem is that with the wars going on, oil production is down/stagnant in many places. The only way oil prices will drop in the forseeable future is if every single country focused on oil production rather than alternative energy. Look at NORTH DAKOTA. I’m going there for a visit (Geophysics summit) to see what oil production is doing there. They are building an economy almost overnight because ND has a small population, but, massive/growing oil production.

I used to think like a Liberal, but, after some long – hard analysis, I think like a Conservative.

SPECULATION isn’t a bad thing because the entire market works on forward pricing.

“I’ll pay you this much for what you will produce tomorrow – this way you can use my money to invest in your business and you can pay me back later”

Speculation wouldn’t be a problem if the Obama administration would allow America to do more oil discovery and production. Problem is, his base is environmentalist and they won’t allow that to happen. Not to mention the ESCALATING WAR causing speculation to keep prices sky high. If we made an aggressive peace policy with Iran, instead of SNEAKING F22’s INTO THE AREA, perhaps oil would go down. If we built the pipelines in northern America, perhaps oil prices would go down. Yes it would take time to decrease the price at the pump, but, at least these things would cause speculation to lighten up.

To big truck;
The scenarios you point out basically lead to no change in oil consumption, if not increased oil consumption either way. Basically people will buy the same dollar amount of oil regardless of the efficiency of the vehicle. So a more efficient vehicle uses less gas but they go more places. A less efficient vehicle buys the same amount of gas but goes a shorter distance. Either way they are using the same amount of gas.

On the issue of oil exploration, you will see more coming online in the near future but it must be done in the right way. I live in Ohio and this place is basically the dump for the east coast and its a damn shame that these people don’t appreciate where their power comes from. The real dangers with fracking are bad well casings causing seepage of gas and chemicals into the ground. This is due to shotty work that must be avoided. Bad pipelines (there was actually a gas line explosion here a few months ago). And frack water disposal. You can’t just dump that stuff in a river.

You may have heard about recent earthquakes near frack water injection wells. Let me put any conspiracy theories you have to rest. These earthquakes were not made up by liberals. 25 years I lived here and that was the very first earthquakes I ever felt here.

I’ve also lived in West Virginia and as much as that state was built around coal, continuing to use it for power generation will not happen, and really should not. Mining coal is incredibly destructive there and is a shame to mine the rock and destroy the land just to burn it. That coal should be used mainly for steel production. Natural gas powerplants make way more sense and with the fracking production should deliver electricity at the same price as coal.

And by the way, the talk I have heard about escalating war with Iran has come from all the conservative candidates, not Obama.

What do they consider a truck? Hyundai really doesn’t have a truck do they? Does a uni-bodied SUV count? In my mind, they should separate real trucks from Uni-bodied vehicles.And…
how do they figure MPG? I have a 2004 Honda Civic that I get 39-41 MPG regularly.Have the newer cars gotten worse in MPG? The problem with data like this is that it brings out more questions than answers. To me anyway.

How you drive should dictate what you drive. I’ve always accused Honda of making their vehicles look great on paper. Ditto for Mazda. Back in ’04, Japan Inc was still at the height of their sneakiness. (Recall that the SEA expose was in 2006 and virtually all Japanese vehicles had their advertised horsepower numbers slashed, with nary a wimper in the press here or south of the border). Driven the way Energuide (in Canada) and the EPA for you guys, the Hondas became every eco-freak’s wet dream. Reality? Well, let’s just say there were fewer blogger sites back then to call Honda, Toyota or Mazda on this practice.
If you drive like my great aunt (and she is dead, by the way), then you will be able to achieve Honda’s published numbers, especially down an 8% grade, with 3 teaspoons of fuel in the tank and Twiggy driving during a tail wind. I, however, drive my vehicles like a getaway vehicle from a bank robbery. The high horsepower/low torque DOHC Honda engines of lore would have to wind up to 6,500 rpm or so just to get out of the driveway. Not very conducive for 40 mpg, I’m afraid.
A Mazda Protege that I had the misfortune of having as a demo for a short while was a 4 door stick that we could not unload at any price. No wonder: 80 km/hr (that’d be 48 mph south of the border) and I was in 5th gear! Otherwise, the engine pay screeched like an old electric mixer running on 220V.

You are actually NORTH of the border, thank you.
And I see a LOT of cadavers out there driving like your Aunt in her present condition. (NO offense intended to your aunt, but much offense intended for everyone else who needs to drive the car and not let it drive them.)

I’m guessing your Civic has two air bags, as compared to thirty two on the 2012 (an a exaggeration, but you get the point)….and on, and on, and on. Cars just keep getting heavier and heavier. The 2020 Civic will probably weigh as much as a cement mixer with a full load.
It will have ten “toe bags” – an air bag for each of your toes.
Cars used to have one radio speaker. Then two. Then four. Magnets are heavy. Can’t remember which car, but I read of one recently that had an optional sound system with twenty two speakers. That is NOT an exaggeration. Fill your trunk with sand bags and it will probably get the same mileage as a new Civic :)

Some of those speakers are tweeters, which weigh ounces, not pounds. Also, magnets are being made more efficient these years, so large (cheap factory) speakers are lighter also, with smaller, more powerful magnets. The speakers in my 2006 Civic with 167 airbags is an example of this. But the stereo sucks, not the speakers. I can equalize my CDs to make the stereo and speakers sound like a million bucks, but the radio and regular storebought CDs sound like a 60s transistor radio. And whose idea was it to make the door speakers the primary bass supply? A trunk is a much larger and efficient baffle. I can’t believe Honda has gone this route. My 2001 Accord had a concert hall in it. My Civic has 6 transistors (the minimum number of transistors, transistor radios could have and still function as a radio.) Oh, and I get right at 30 mpg driving like that guy above (like a getaway from a bank robbery). I think Honda still has the ULEV thing figured out.

John,You are absolutely correct. Magnets by themselves are not heavy, however, added to the rest of the extra sound deadening, airbags, more metal because of crash standards and added size, it all adds up to some sand bags. I have been told that 100lbs.equals -1/2 MPG. What do you say TTAC?

A lot more people are opting to keep their inefficient old cars longer as well. It is often cheaper to hold on to your old car and use the money you save on car payments to put gas into your old gas-guzzling chariot.

And in all but a few cases it is definitely cheaper to repair an old car to keep it running than it is to buy a new one. Been there, done that (for decades).

That said, I am really disappointed in the sales of EVs like the Leaf, and Hybrids like the Volt. The Prius is a success story all its own and is off on a different celestial plane altogether.

People who choose to buy a Prius (any Prius) have a reason all their own. But the sales numbers tell the story and I have several friends who own a Prius as a THIRD vehicle — you know, the I-feel-your-pain display type vehicle. When no one is looking they drive a pickup truck.

And while the green-wienies may bemoan the fact that most people choose to drive an ICE vehicle, the rest of us can rejoice in the fact that there will be no oil shortage and that we won’t run out of oil for hundreds of years yet.

There’s more found every day, everywhere. It’s our Federal government that doesn’t want us to get it out of the ground by siding with and appeasing the green-weenies. Fortunately for all of us, private land-owners do not have the same inhibitions. Go frack!

Gasoline and Diesel will continue to be available, although at a price. All it takes is money. $4-$5/gallon may be the new norm staring in Spring 2013 when several refineries go down for maintenance again, unless we fire Obama and the ‘crats. Would Romney be any different? Most voters won’t even show at the polls this November.

Refineries also need to be profitable as do the explorers and drillers. There is no free lunch. We always have the option to buy, or not to buy gas. I choose to buy gas.

OK…
Gas went to $4.10 when the oil baron was in office, and I’m sure he said, “This is GREAT!”
Also, it takes a real idiot to buy a “status symbol” electric car now. You will never get a return on your $40000 purchase because your power bill will skyrocket. And your range on electricity is 40 miles. And your garage will burn down along with your house (if you are plum stupid enough to buy a bankrupt Volt. Anyone remember why GM went bankrupt in the first place? Now they are putting 4-cylinders in 4000-lb. cars. Kinda like the late 70’s with V-6s in Cadillacs. Geez.)

When my brother moved from Huntsville, AL to Manhattan, NY, he bought a Leaf in Los Angeles, CA. while visiting the old family home for a reunion with the rest of us, and hauled the Leaf from LA to NY behind his F150 on a U-Haul flatbed car trailer while his wife drove her Camry behind him.

Now he laments that there aren’t enough public charging stations in the areas they frequent in NY and that they are limited to charging the Leaf from the 110V outlet in their high-rise’s parking garage (which takes two days, unless someone pulls the plug when he’s not there in which case it takes even longer).

Here he thought he could live the EV life in the big city but he still drives his F150 more often than not, and his wife drives her Camry more often than not.

Personally, I thought he would have been better off with a Prius OR a Yaris or Fit, and advised him accordingly. But because he had recently retired and sold his new-car dealership he decided he knew better how to manage his transportation needs in Manhattan.

His Leaf will be an ultra-low mileage car whenever he decides to trade it for a small ICE car, but I’m not sure he will be able to turn it in the Big City because EVs just don’t sell well if at all, anywhere in the US.

“Now they are putting 4-cylinders in 4000-lb. cars. Kinda like the late 70′s with V-6s in Cadillacs.” You’d think they (the domestics) would look at their own history and realize what doesn’t work. I as usual blame CAFE and the EPA. Why? These companies apparently still think their customer base wants heavy cars and I think most of their new car buyers won’t be bothered by 4-cyl vs 6-cyl mileage.

“People who choose to buy a Prius (any Prius) have a reason all their own. But the sales numbers tell the story and I have several friends who own a Prius as a THIRD vehicle — you know, the I-feel-your-pain display type vehicle. When no one is looking they drive a pickup truck.”

Hmmm… I wonder what it’s like to be so insecure you’ll spend $24K+ on a car that you then don’t drive just to get people to think of you in a particular way.

By the way, it is true that we are not going to “run out of oil” any time soon. However, it will get harder to get at, dirtier to process and cost more. I expect we’re going to get the bad news about fracking soon enough. You’ll notice the industry was very careful to immunize itself against potential damages when the had the Oil Crew in office? And one errant missile in the Straits of Hormuz could make oil prices very interesting.

“I wonder what it’s like to be so insecure you’ll spend $24K+ on a car that you then don’t drive just to get people to think of you in a particular way.”

Oh they drive them, but they drive their pickup truck more, and momma drives her grocery-getter more than they do the Prius.

My guess is that those people with multiple car discounts buy a Prius because it is an efficient toy, and because they can.

But given the choice, most drive the gas hogs. I believe most Americans simply will not buy into the Prius and EV craze until there is no more oil, and that won’t happen for centuries yet, if ever.

It is entirely possible that a new form of energy, like Hydrogen for instance, may overtake gasoline and diesel, or that natgas or coal gasification may experience breakthroughs that will keep us rolling even longer with ICEs.

And then there is the conversion of electrical power generating plants away from oil and coal toward natgas and nuclear.

I go through a lot of gasoline, and my favorite is the Shell station in my area because of their consistent high quality of gasoline.

Where some people cringe at the thought of $4-$5/gallon of gas, I’ve been paying that for Shell Premium already, longer than I care to admit. It’s part of the cost of living. Everything has gone up and my dollar buys less each day.

Who’s to blame? Doesn’t matter. We all suffer because of it since we elect the politicians who determine national policy for us.

There is nothing I can do about the rising cost of rice and rent and I’m not going to alter my lifestyle because fuel and energy cost more. And most Americans must feel the same way because I have not seen a reduction in traffic where I live when regular unleaded gas was hugging $4.75/gallon.

Here in New Mexico and the Western States we have a lot of oil that goes untapped. Instead we’re being forced to use 10-15% ethanol spiked gasoline and for people with older cars that is pretty much the death-knell for their fuel systems.

You can smell the raw gas leaking out of cracked fuel lines of old vehicles in any parking lot, like Wal-Mart or K-Mart. If our government thinks that this will force older people or poor people to buy newer cars, the bureaucrats are sadly mistaken. They haven’t got the money for that.

We’ve had several roadside fires from leaked gas self-igniting when it hits a hot manifold under the hood of a running car.

So older foreign-brand cars and trucks remain much in demand. It is not unusual to see people drive old Toyotas and Hondas, but the old domestic cars, not so much.

I’ve got a buddy who drives a 1987 Camry that was used by his wife until he bought her a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee. In all fairness, he bought her JGC first. We actually were inspired by her JGC to buy my wife one as well.

And for chores and light hauling, he still drives his 1992 S-10. His may just be the right approach to car ownership in these times — keep the old ones running until the wheels fall off, and rent a car when you go on a long trip so you don’t wear out your new car.

I know its tricky in the western states especially New Mexico because you need a truck for lots of chores and to get places on dirt roads etc., but you also need to drive long distances between towns. But remember that much of the wealtier car buying public live in urban or suburban areas of the east, eastern midwest and coastal west and for them a prius is the right tool even if the cost is marginally recouped over time they like having the new tech of a hybrid (that actually does work) and a reliable car to boot. Also that tech is transferable to any ICE running any type of fuel, so in my eyes the development is worth it. The unbelievable thing is no other company has come out with a car that can compete with it at what it does.

I like data, but this information is lost on Americans because we are not collectivists.

Nobody gives a hoot which mfr has the most MPG, or how their CAFE number is going. We only care about the car we’re driving, or shopping for. Making those numbers change is somebody else’s problem, not mine.